Forum Post: Working in unity to make a difference
Posted 9 years ago on July 1, 2015, 11:40 p.m. EST by DKAtoday
(33802)
from Coon Rapids, MN
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People for the American Way
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Family Voices
Campaign for America's Future
Center for Community Change Action
Courage Campaign
Daily Kos
Democracy for America
Economic Policy Institute
Medicare Rights Center
National People's Action
Pension Rights Center
People Demanding Action
Progressive Democrats of America
RH Reality Check
Social Security Works
The Nation
Tell your representative to vote NO on H.R. 2822 and keep out any anti-environmental riders!
Earthjustice
TAKE ACTION! Keep anti-environmental riders out of budget and spending bills
TAKE ACTION
The U.S. Capitol dome detail in cloudy dramatic day (Orhan Cam/Shutterstock) The environmental spending bill is up for a vote this week.
Tell your representative to vote NO on H.R. 2822 and keep out any anti-environmental riders!
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on the FY2016 environmental spending bill—and it’s riddled with two dozen anti-environmental policy riders that seek to undo or block protections for clean air, clean water and wildlife.
Tell Congress to stop handouts to polluters in budget and spending bills—now and in the future!
This isn’t the first time environmental foes in Congress have tried to include unrelated and extraneous anti-environmental provisions—aka “riders”—in budget and spending legislation, and it won’t be the last.
In addition to making draconian cuts to the budgets of the EPA and other agencies, the FY2016 environmental spending bill contains riders that would:
Tell your representative to vote NO on the FY2016 environmental spending bill and keep anti-environmental riders out of budget and spending bills.
Thank you,
Martin Hayden Vice President Policy & Legislation Earthjustice
TAKE ACTION
Thank you for being an Earthjustice Activist.
What I added to the message in the space provided:
The public is learning and is beginning to take informed action. Speeches do not carry weight anymore. Voting records are FACT and cut through all of the rhetoric.
You will be coming up for re-election.
Stop the abuse of legislation - support forward and implement One Subject At A Time Legislation.
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Drone warfare - end it - speak-up speak-out - get involved!
Meticulous researchers have documented that U.S. drones are killing many innocent civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Drones are making the world less stable and creating new enemies. Their remoteness provides those responsible with a sense of immunity.
We're close to 100,000 signatures to ban weaponized drones. Add yours here.
Former Directors of National Intelligence Michael Flynn and Dennis Blair have called the drone wars counterproductive, as has an internal CIA report. Former Counter-Terrorism Adviser Michael Boyle agrees, as does former Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright, and former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal.[1]
Thousands have been killed for no good reason, many of them civilians.[2] Weaponized drones are no more acceptable than land mines, cluster bombs, or chemical weapons. The world must renounce and forbid their manufacture, possession, or use. Violators must be held accountable.
The United States is moving in the wrong direction by marketing and selling weaponized drones to other nations.[3]
Click here to add your name to the cause of creating a global armed-drones ban.
The petition you'll be signing reads:
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, urge
Click here to sign, as have the following organizations:
Alaskans For Peace and Justice
Antiwar.com
Arlington Green Party
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
BFUU
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Bloomington Peace Action Coalition
Brave New Foundation
Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice
Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East
Coalition for Grassroots Progress
Code Pink
Drone Free Zone
Evanston Neighbors for Peace
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fresno Center for Nonviolence
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Granny Peace Brigade-NY
Hoosiers for Peace and Justice
Indiana Anti-Drone Project
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
KnowDrones.com
LA Laborfest
Montrose Peace Vigil
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Nevada Desert Experience
No Drones Network
The Northampton Committee to Stop War
Office of the Americas
On Earth Peace
Peace Fresno
Peace Madera
Peace of Mind Project
People United for Peace of Santa Cruz County (PUP)
Progressive Democrats of America
Project Peacemakers
Quaker House
RootsAction.org
Rutherford Institute
Saint Lucy's Justice and Peace Committee
Santa Cruz Against Drones (SCAD)
Simple Gifts Inc.
Sitkans for Peace and Justice
Sustainable Action Network
United for Peace and Justice
United National Antiwar Coalition
Veracity Now
Veterans For Peace
Veterans For Peace Chapter 10
Veterans For Peace Chapter 14
Veterans For Peace Chapter 27
Veterans For Peace Chapter 91
Veterans For Peace Chapter 154
Veterans For Peace, Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter, Baltimore, MD
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
WarIsACrime.org
War Resisters League
Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice
West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition
Women Against Military Madness (WAMM)
Women Standing
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S. Section
World Can't Wait
Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
After signing the petition, please forward this message to your friends. You can also share it from the webpage after taking the action yourself.
This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now.
-- The RootsAction.org Team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
Footnotes:
"Even the Warriors Say the Wars Make Us Less Safe," War Is A Crime.
"Get the Data: Drone Wars," Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Missy Ryan, "Obama administration to allow sales of armed drones to allies," Washington Post, February 17, 2015.
www.RootsAction.org
Petitioning Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley Stop the sale of Columbia Gorge water to Nestle
Petition by Jonathon Hughes Aloha, Oregon
1,222 Supporters
Sign Jonathon’s petition
The Columbia River Gorge is a national treasure - a National Scenic Area without peer.
Now the City of Cascade Locks and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife are looking to make a water rights swap to allow Nestle to bottle and sell water from this beautiful resource.
Not only does this have the potential to open the floodgates to commercial water harvesting in the Gorge, it further encourages ridiculous waste by adding more plastic bottles to the nation's landfills. Realistically, while the plastic in water bottles is recyclable, the infrastructure doesn't have the capacity to handle the volume of plastics recycling as it is - we should be reducing our dependence on plastic, not increasing its production.
We are asking that ODFW stop their deal with Cascade Locks - or at least offer an outlet for public input. Senators Wyden and Merkley - this is happening in a national resource - please help us get the attention this issue deserves!
Sign Jonathon’s petition
In the section provided - I added the following to my signature:
People "OVER" corporations!
Environment "OVER" corporations!
Stop letting corporations destroy the environment for profit!
The headline on this week's TIME magazine cover says a lot about where the author of the email below stands in the Democratic Party: "Who's afraid of Elizabeth Warren?" The truth is, Sen. Warren has had Wall Street-wing Democrats watching their backs for quite some time now. She's the picture perfect example of what outside-the-establishment democratic power can and should look like.
Now, Sen. Warren is setting her sights on restoring a critical legislative check on the ability of giant corporate investment banks to play games with money that isn't theirs: The Glass-Steagall Act. If we are going to avoid another financial crisis, we need to protect innocent consumers from economic destruction when the high-risk gambles of Wall Street bankers fail to pay off.
At Democracy for America, we're excited to team up with Sen. Warren to help build momentum for the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. Read more about it in Elizabeth Warren's email to DFA members below, then sign our petition to show that you'll have her back in this critically important battle to hold Wall Street accountable . -- Karli Wallace Thompson, Democracy for America
Seven years ago, Wall Street's high-risk bets brought our economy to its knees.
We've made progress since then. The Dodd-Frank Act was the strongest financial reform law in three generations, and it gave regulators a number of common-sense tools to prevent future crises.
But let's get real: Dodd-Frank did not end the "too big to fail" problem -- the problem posed by financial institutions that are so large that their failure would threaten the whole economy. Last summer, both the Fed and FDIC reported publicly that eleven of the big banks were still so risky that if any one of them started to fail, they would need a government bailout or they would risk taking down the American economy -- again.
That's not a statistic that should make anyone sleep well tonight.
That's why I've partnered with Senators John McCain, Maria Cantwell, and Angus King to reintroduce the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, a bill to reduce taxpayers' risk in the financial system and decrease the likelihood of future financial crises. Sign up now to show your support.
Four years after the 1929 Wall Street crash, Congress passed the original Glass-Steagall Act to build a wall between boring, commercial banking -- savings and checking accounts -- and riskier investment banking.
The idea was simple: If banks want access to government-provided deposit insurance, they should be limited to boring banking. If the banks want to engage in high-risk trading, they can go for it -- but they can't get access to insured deposits and put the taxpayer on the hook for some of the risk.
The Glass-Steagall Act laid the groundwork for a half century of financial stability that helped create a robust and thriving middle class. But the commercial banks wanted higher profits and the investment banks wanted access to all that cash in checking accounts, so they starting lobbying Washington to end Glass-Steagall. Finally, in the 1980s, regulators began buckling under pressure from the banks and began poking holes in the wall between investment and commercial banking. In 1999, after 12 separate attempts, Congress repealed most of Glass-Steagall. And in 2008, "too big to fail" was born.
The bill we're reintroducing will rebuild the wall between commercial banks and investment banks -- with new protections to fill some of the holes punched in the original bill and to cover products that didn't exist in 1933. It won't end "too big to fail" all by itself, but it will reduce risk in the system and make financial institutions smaller and safer.
Sign up now to show your support for the bipartisan 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. Let's make banks choose: Take big risks using investors' money or be very careful using depositors' money -- but no more mixing the two.
The big banks and their executives have recovered handsomely from the crisis they helped create, while too many other Americans are still scraping to get by.
We weren't sent to Washington to work for the big banks. It's time for a banking system that serves the best interests of the American people.
Thank you for being a part of this,
Elizabeth
America's toxic chemicals policy—the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA)—isn't just terribly outdated. It's badly broken. Every day, Americans are exposed to thousands of chemicals, and only a fraction have ever been reviewed for safety—and EPA is virtually powerless to restrict even known deadly carcinogens like asbestos, which kills 10,000 Americans every year.
Every day we wait to fix old law this means another day before we can start to protect millions of Americans from the threats posed by dangerous chemicals. Happily, Congress will soon vote on a law that can change all that—and according to our intel, they're watching the #TSCA hashtag on Twitter closely.
That's why we'll be taking over the hashtag—and you can help. Join our Thunderclap!
While your tweet alone could get lost in the shuffle of 177 million tweets that go out every day, combining your voice with hundreds, or even thousands of your fellow activists means your message can't be ignored.
When you join our Thunderclap, the online tool will do the work for you! On Wednesday, July 15th, your message will be part of an explosion of simultaneous social media shares, unveiling a cacophonous call for toxics reform that will command the attention of Congress—and urge them to act now to fix our broken law.
Don't just say something. Be heard. Join our "Fix TSCA Now" Thunderclap today!
Heather ShelbyThank you for standing up for chemical safety,
Heather Shelby
Action Network Manager
1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20009 (800) 684-3322
Mass graves. Sex trafficking. Forced labor. Our government should want nothing to do with forging economic ties with countries whose economies run off modern day slavery.
But thanks to an appalling move by President Obama, the US is now on our way to signing the super-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership with one of the worst human trafficking offenders, Malaysia.
Congress was on track to ban the US from signing trade deals with the worst of the worst, including Malaysia. Then two days ago, the Obama Administration suddenly announced that Malaysia’s status in the human trafficking report would be “upgraded” in an effort to sidestep Congressional regulation. Meanwhile, almost nothing has changed in Malaysia for people subjected to obscene working conditions.
This is why the TPP needs to be transparent. How can we trust the President that he’s got all of our best interests at heart in negotiating this trade deal, when he pulls shameless ploys like this?
Add your name with the 150,000 people who’ve already signed our petition calling for President Obama and other world leaders to make the text of the TPP public.
The TPP is almost certainly a disaster waiting to happen, but we don’t know the truth because everything is done behind closed doors. If you’re a corporate lobbyist, you’re invited in, while the rest of us are left in the dark. All we have to go on are the leaked chapters that Wikileaks has shared, which let us know that everything -- from our laws to our food to our internet to our medicines -- may be put at risk to maximize corporate profits.
President Obama wants us to trust him that this trade deal will be “the most progressive trade deal of all time.” But how can we, when he uses cynical maneuvers to push the TPP forward at the expense of Malaysian people forced to work in slave-like conditions? If he’s willing to do something this offensive, what else is happening inside those closed doors?
Negotiators are signaling that they will almost certainly finalize the TPP when they gather in two weeks at a swanky resort in Hawaii. After that, there’s no more opportunity to change the deal -- because our representatives voted to ‘fast track’ the TPP through Congress, they only gave themselves an up or down vote with no option to amend the agreement.
With so little time, and in light of this latest maneuver, we need to massively ramp up our pressure on President Obama and other world leaders to make the deal public.
Can you add your name, and then share this petition far and wide?
Thanks for all you do, Kaytee and the rest of us
P.S. Campaigners in Malaysia have been standing against trafficking for years. There are some signs of progress. But if the US goes into a trade deal without demanding fast progress and investment in real support for trafficking survivors, then it’s all too easy for the Malaysian government to take their foot off the gas again. Sign this petition to help shine light on the TPP and stop this deal.
More Information:
Obama To Upgrade Malaysia On Human Rights Despite Mass Graves, Huffington Post, 8 July 2015
SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3 .
Have a great idea for a SumOfUs campaign? Start your own petition and the best ones could be emailed to to the whole SumOfUs community.
Tell Congress: Subpoena Eric Holder's communication with his corporate law firm
Petition to the leadership of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees: "Subpoena all communications between former Attorney General Eric Holder and Covington & Burling while he served at Department of Justice and investigate any potential conflict of interest."
It’s the revolving door at its most despicable. Eric Holder spent six years as attorney general, and failed to prosecute banks for their criminal wrongdoing or put any bank executives behind bars. Now, he’s set to rejoin his old white-collar criminal defense firm, making millions each year helping Wall Street bankers avoid criminal consequences.1
Worse, it was just reported that the firm, Covington & Burling, has kept an empty 11th floor corner office for Holder awaiting his return. Combined with Holder’s purchase a year ago of a $1.5 million condo just 300 feet from his new office raises serious questions about how long Holder knew he would be getting a major payday from his old firm even while it continued to represent companies under Department of Justice investigation. If the firm and Holder agreed on a future job offer, that alone could violate criminal laws.2
The leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees owe it to the American people to explore all communications between a sitting attorney general and a firm that appears to have been holding a job for him while its clients negotiated legal settlements with the Justice Department.
Tell Congress: Subpoena former Attorney General Eric Holder's communications with his corporate law firm while serving as head of the Department of Justice. Click here to sign the petition.
Wall Street banks committed fraud that crashed the economy and then illegally foreclosed on countless homeowners, but still not a single big bank executive has gone to jail. In many cases, the Justice Department under Eric Holder’s leadership refused even to prosecute banks for criminal acts, despite whistleblowers coming forward to guide investigators to the key evidence. In the rare cases where prosecutors brought charges, they quickly agreed on settlements that allowed banks to get off the hook with empty promises, token fines, no admissions of wrongdoing, no one losing their job, and no one going to jail.
We knew that Eric Holder’s long career in white-collar criminal defense biased him against confronting mega banks, and many expected him to return to Covington & Burling after he left office. But only recently did it come to light that the firm had reserved a space for him in its new building well before he had announced his attention to resign. Not only that, last year Holder and his wife purchased a $1.5 million just 300 feet from the firm’s downtown office, a move that many interpret to suggest he knew he would return. The firm’s chairman even admitted in an interview that Holder’s return was “a project I've been working on since I started as chair [in 2008].”3
Did Covington & Burling make concrete promises to Holder while he was still serving as attorney general? Holding a corner office alone could constitute a violation of U.S. criminal code prohibiting “an arrangement concerning prospective employment.”4
Tell Congress: Subpoena former Attorney General Eric Holder's communications with his corporate law firm while serving as head of the Department of Justice. Click here to sign the petition.
Even if there is no smoking gun of criminal behavior, the mere fact that Holder will now make millions getting rich criminals off the hook is a revolting example of the revolving door. Covington & Burling represents JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and nearly every other Wall Street titan. Disturbingly, the firm’s marketing materials include glowing references to Lanny Breuer. In Breuer's four years as head of the Justice Department's criminal division under Holder, he sent not a single banker to jail for crimes committed during the financial meltdown. In 2013, Breuer left the DOJ for a job at Covington where his salary was reported to start at around $4 million a year. The firm is notable for helping big banks find the legal justification for much of the rampant securitization that led to the financial crash and ensuing foreclosure fraud.5
Covington & Burling has already brought on six of Holder’s colleagues from the Justice Department, including the former head of the criminal division who refused to investigate banks, and the firm reportedly views Holder as a “rainmaker” who will bring in new business. Holder himself recently said his role model is a former attorney general who used his position to became the first lawyer to charge $1,000 an hour.6 Even if Holder never shows up in court to represent his clients, he and Covington & Burling clearly plan to trade on expertise and insider connections to defend illegal behavior and rake in big bucks.7
Holder’s new job is already a national disgrace. The least the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees can do is make sure it isn’t criminal, as well.
Tell Congress: Subpoena former Attorney General Eric Holder's communications with his corporate law firm while serving as head of the Department of Justice. Click below to sign the petition.
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/subpoena_holder?t=7&akid=14931.4833456.PdDGRP
Thank you for speaking out,
Becky Bond, Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets
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© 2015 CREDO. All rights reserved.
In 2014, the top 25 hedge fund managers got a $2.2 billion break on their tax bill because of the “carried interest” loophole.
You know what we could have paid for with that money? 50,000 construction jobs for the next year.
Or maybe put it toward education programs facing cuts -- like Head Start or Pell Grants. Heck, buying lunch for everyone in Minnesota would be better than keeping this gaping loophole open.
Don’t worry -- we wouldn’t actually use the money for lunches. But there are a million ways we can use it better. The wealthy shouldn’t be able to cheat the system.
I know you don’t have $2.2 billion lying around somewhere. But you can join me in opposing the “carried interest” tax loophole by clicking here to sign the petition.
Thank you.
-Al Paid for and authorized by Al Franken for Senate
P.O. Box 583144 | Minneapolis, MN 55458-3144
the government should be in control of the money circulations so they can run project to pay the people
else the people will have to work for someone else that had money to put into the system
Tell Congress: Don’t gut the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Tell Congress: “Fully fund and permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is America’s most successful conservation law and the principal program for acquiring land for public recreation, habitat preservation, wildlife refuges, and national parks.”
Add your name: Sign the petition ►
In April, we celebrated Earth Day. Many people spent the day doing things to preserve and protect our natural environment. But Republicans in Congress took a radically different approach.
They held a hearing to find ways to gut the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – the 50-year-old law that’s considered by many to be America’s most important and successful conservation program.1
This is just the latest assault in the war on America’s public lands that Republicans have been waging since the start of the new Congress – one we’ve been fighting at every turn. We can’t let this latest attack go unanswered.
Tell Congress: Fully fund and permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Click here to sign the petition.
If you’re keeping count, this is “strike three” for Congressional Republicans this year. First we fought back against their attempt to abolish the Antiquities Act, a 100-year-old law that allows presidents to protect public lands by designating them national monuments.
Then we fought against an attempt to turn back ownership of all of America’s public lands to states for sale to the highest bidder – which would allow pristine public lands that would become future national parks and monuments to instead fall into the hands of dirty oil and fracking companies.
Now, they’ve set their sights on the LWCF, a 50-year-old program, set to expire in September, that’s been the principal means through which we’ve acquired and protected new lands for national parks, public recreation, wildlife refuges, and habitat protection.
Their plan is to divert funds away from the program and strip it of its ability to continue acquiring land for public use. It’s a cynical attempt to keep new lands out of public hands and available instead to fossil fuel drilling, mining, and real estate companies.2
Fortunately, Democrats like Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Raul Grijalva have offered bills that directly challenge this assault by fully funding and permanently authorizing the LWCF so that it no longer faces threats from Republicans who are eager to gut this vital program. We have to step in and support these efforts before that happens.3
Tell Congress: Fully fund and permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Click here to sign the petition.
Thank you for your activism.
Josh Nelson, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets
Add your name: Sign the petition ►
Hearing on the reauthorization and potential reforms to the Land and Water Conservation Fund
"Political sparring over the Land and Water Conservation Fund," High Country News, April 17, 2015.
Cantwell: ‘Permanently Authorize and Fully Fund Our Country’s Most Successful Conservation Program’
The day you signed your first petition on Change.org, you became a part of something big. Today we’re celebrating 100 million people all over the world coming to Change.org to start or sign a petition. More than one million petitions have been supported by people like you, and there’s a unique story behind every signature.
We’re so proud of the change you have been a part of, and we’re excited to share this moment with you. Join us in celebrating 100 million people using Change.org: track the impact of the growing Change.org community.
Thanks for joining us on this journey,
The Change.org team
Sign if you agree with Bernie Sanders: We need a Medicare-for-all solution to the health care crisis.
Update: Senator Lisa Murkowski's bill to export crude oil, and expand domestic drilling is only five votes shy of a super majority. Contact your senators and tell them "the ban on crude oil exports must stand!"
Lisa Murkowski's bill to lift the ban on oil exports is sliding toward the finish line. If it crosses, millions of acres of federal lands will be open to oil and gas drilling. Not to mention the risk to our oceans from Shell's Arctic drilling to new proposals to open the Atlantic coast. Murkowski's bill now has 13 co-sponsors including Climate-Denier-in-Chief Senator James Inhofe. A recent count put her only five votes shy of attaining a senate super majority -- all but assuring passage.1
But for all of her talk about job creation and lower energy prices, Murkowski is not as slick as her bill. For example, she doesn't want anyone to know that gas prices would actually increase if this bill passes. You see, by dismantling the surplus of oil in our reserves, Murkowski's slick plan forces us to compete with other countries for our own oil.2 Even Big Oil representatives contend that lifting the ban would raise prices and, as such, are against Murkowski's bill.3
But Murkowski and Inhoffe aren't interested in our pain at the pump. Just like they're not interested in climate chaos, oil spills and public health. They're only interested in drilling up every bit of carbon under the ground and selling it, because that's what Big Oil wants. And Big oil has donated over $300 million in three years to oil disciple candidates.4
You know Murkowski and her Big Oil backers are going to grease ever Senator's palm they can to get this bill through. That's why I need you to contact your senators today and tell them plain and simple, "The ban must stand!"
Murkowski has also failed to let the public know about what economists call the "resource curse," which Stanford economist and Professor Terry Karl breaks down like this: "Oil dependent countries eventually become among the most economically troubled, most authoritarian and most conflict ridden."5 And none of the proponents of this bill have discussed the climate implications of digging up more oil than our planet's carbon budget can afford at the exact moment we're trying to lead the world in the fight to stop climate change ahead of the Paris Climate Conference this December.
President Obama has made some big commitments to the entire world about reducing U.S. emissions. This week he announced a plan with Brazil to generate 20 percent of our energy from renewable sources in the next 15 years.6 If Murkowski's bill passes the Senate, we'll be leading the world in the exact opposite direction by exporting more fossil fuels we simply cannot afford to burn, and which will only make the transition to clean power more costly.
That's why Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) along with 12 other senators including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Barbra Boxer (D-CA) recently sent President Obama a letter outlining their concerns with this petro-pernicious bill. Among other things the letter discusses rising domestic gas prices that would disrupt the $11.4 billion in savings Americans have already enjoyed.7 Markey also highlights the idea that oil exports would increase the number of bomb trains that traverse our country -- and we already know that more bomb trains means more explosions in our communities.
But 13 Senators is not enough to stop Murkowski's bill and keep the oil in the ground -- we need every Senator we can get. Contact your senators today and tell them to keep the oil export ban intact.
Thanks for taking action,
Anthony
Gardner, Timothy. The Push To Repeal The US Oil Export Ban Faces A Steep Obstacle. Business Insider. May 13, 2015.
McDonald, Michael. Push To Lift The US Oil Exports Ban Gathers Steam. Christian Science Monitor. June 24, 2015.
Reuters. U.S. Mulls Lifting Oil Export Ban. The Maritime Executive. June 3, 2015.
Center for Responsive Politics: Total Oil and Gas Sector Donations 2013-2015.
Rosenberg, Tina. Avoiding The Curse Of The Oil Rich Nations. The New York Times. February 13, 2013.
Cama, Timothy. U.S., Brazil Pledge 20 Percent Renewable Electricity By 2030. The Hill. June 30, 2015.
Senator Edward J. Markey: Letter to President Barack Obama Dated June 26, 2015.
Congress just took a chainsaw to the Environmental Protection Agency's operating budget in an effort to thwart climate progress. Tell your Senators and Representative to vote "No" on climate killing budgets.
I have never been a fan of horror movies, I just can't take all the carnage. Which is why I have a hard time looking at Congress' budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): it makes those horror flicks look like a Disney cartoon.
Last month, House and Senate committees each passed bills to bleed EPA dry. The House plan would cut the spending to protect the planet by nearly 1 billion dollars.1 Worse yet, the House GOP budget includes a slew of climate killing amendments and riders that would block EPA from implementing new rules to cut global warming pollution, protect drinking water and more. If these budgets were a movie, it would be called, "Death By A Thousand Cuts."
It's all part of a broader GOP plan to prevent the EPA from doing its job by protecting the environment and public health. Since Republicans took control of the House in 2011, EPA's budget has been cut by 20 percent2 and the agency is experiencing its lowest funding level since 1989.
Congress gets back from recess next week, and they plan to bring both these planet busting budgets to the floor for a vote. Senate Democrats have threatened to filibuster any budget slashing bill, and President Obama has promised to veto many of these proposals.3 But to stop this scary movie from even making it to the theaters we need Congress to reject these bills before they reach the floor.
Can you contact your Representative and Senators this week and tell them to vote "No" on any appropriations bill that would slash open EPA?
The House Committee responsible for EPA's budget released a statement saying the cuts are necessary to, "Focus EPA's activities on core duties, rather than unnecessary regulatory expansion."4 I guess the committee has forgotten why Richard Nixon, a republican, created the EPA in the first place: To protect the environment and public health. And while GOP lawmakers continue plans to bleed EPA dry, they don't seem to have a problem giving Big Oil the equivalent of a blood transfusion: their budgets have also approved $38 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks to the biggest polluters on the planet.5 That's more than five times the budget they want to set for EPA.
This is no time to be slashing up the people who fight for our climate. President Obama has made deals with China, India, the EU and other nations to reduce our emissions and take a leadership role in combating climate disruption. Not to mention that we are already seeing record heat waves, devastating floods and wildfires -- all fueled by the climate change our Congress is unwilling act on.
But there's hope: Congress is home this week for the 4th of July holiday. If enough of us contact them now, before they leave home for D.C., we can stop this climate killing double feature in both the House and the Senate. Click here to tell your lawmakers: Don't let EPA bleed out.
Thanks for taking (environmental) action,
Anthony and the Environmental Action EPA Budget Boosters
Overly, Steven. House Republicans To Hack Away At EPA Budget. The Washington Post. June 10, 2015.
Cousins, Farrow. Massive Budget Cuts Looming For EPA As Republicans Seek To Limit Rules On Air And Water Pollution. DeSmog. June 20, 2015.
Adler, Ben. Congressional Republicans: Damn The Environment, Full Cuts Ahead! The Grist. June 22, 2015.
Plautz, Jason. House Republicans To Take Hatchet To Obama's Environmental Budget. National Journal. June 9, 2015.
Oil Change International: Fossil Fuels Subsidies Overview.
Is "this" the BEST public address "EVER??? "
I defy anyone to to find fault "here" !!!
Talking truth to the people as well as truth to power!
This "IS" how revolution is inspired forwarded implemented!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it comes down to - not voting for one individual - as he rightly says = He Can Not Do It Alone. It Comes Down To Proper Involvement and Support Of The Whole Population. This includes removing (whatever party affiliation) every politician from office who does not actually represent the people and SO does not represent the health and prosperity of ALL - remove them from office and replace them with people who stand strongly with Bernie's Full Agenda!!!!
Watch and Share: Watch Livestream of Bernie Sanders in Madison (event concluded) Crowd Estimate 10-13,000
tweet -
Social and political action groups - networking - strength in unity http://occupywallst.org/forum/working-in-unity-to-make-a-difference/ … People working together can make good changes!
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